Subscribe to this blog

Subscribe to our free newsletter

FEATURED POST

The violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville reflects the dangerous, open-the-floodgates culture that having a Bully-in-Chief in the White House has created in America.
Hundreds of protesters descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017 for a “Unite the Right” rally.
The rally was dispersed by police minutes after its scheduled start at noon, after clashes between rallygoers and counter-protesters, and after a torchlit pre-rally march Friday night descended into violence.
But later that day, as rallygoers began a march and counterprotests continued, a reported Nazi sympathizer drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring 19.
Self-described “pro-white” activist Jason Kessler organized the rally to protest the planned removal of a statue of confederate general Robert E. Lee from a park in Charlottesville.
Kessler is affiliated with the alt-right movement that uses internet trolling tactics to argue against diversity and “identity po…

Koh Tao Defense Team to File Appeal With Thai Supreme Court

The legal defense team representing the 2 Burmese migrant workers sentenced to death for the 2014 murder and rape of 2 Britons in Thailand's Koh Tao island, will next file an appeal with the Thai Supreme Court, after being rejected in the appeal court.

U Kyaw Thaung, a member of the men's defense team, said, they have been discussing when to submit the next appeal, to Thailand's highest court. "We will do so within the next week," he told The Irrawaddy.

The defense team said they were not formally informed about the ruling in this very controversial case, in which the 2 men, Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, received the death penalty for charges they have denied, involving the deaths of British nationals Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24.

The appeal was nearly 200 pages long and argued that the DNA evidence which led to the conviction was inadmissible and had not been "collected, tested, analyzed or reported in accordance with internationally accepted standards," Reuters reported.

U Htoo Chit, the director of the Foundation for Education Development - an organization providing outreach to migrant workers in Thailand - said, "the Lawyer's Council of Thailand - the legal body assisting the Burmese defense team - was not officially informed about the verdict of the appeal. But we will consult with the defense lawyers to keep our appeal in accordance with the Thai judicial system."

"Also we learned that Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin were not properly informed through the translator, either," he added. "But the District Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the [Koh Samui] township criminal court ruling."

It was not clear when the Appeal Court's verdict was made, but it was known publicly after being published in Thai media on Wednesday afternoon, said the defense team members.

From the time the Royal Thai Police started their investigation into the murders of two British backpackers on the Thai island of Koh Tao on 15 September 2014 their methods were under constant and severe international criticism – and for very good reason.

On Christmas Eve 2015, the criticisms and protests intensified when the Koh Samui Provincial Court found two small Burmese migrant workers guilty of the rape of Hannah Witheridge and guilty of her murder and the murder of David Miller. The two men, Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo who were apparently of good character and who had no previous criminal records were sentenced to death. Many observers regarded the men as scapegoats and even as “the two most famous scapegoats on Earth.”

The prosecution case against the defendants appeared to be accusation driven rather than evidence based.

Khaosodenglish reported on the judgment in a story with the headline: “KOH TAO MURDERS: COURT SAYS DNA TRUMPS OTHER FLAWS IN CASE”.

Without the DNA evidence in the form of a table provided by the police laboratory*, that supposedly matched a mixed DNA sample allegedly obtained from Hannah’s body to the DNA of the defendants there would have been no conviction. However, that DNA evidence, that “trump card” has all the hallmarks of being fake.

Of course, it must always be kept in mind that the burden of proof in criminal trials lies with the prosecution – an inconvenient concept that often appears to be dispensed with in the Thai justice system. The burden was on the prosecution to show that its DNA evidence was reliable. The burden was never on the defence to prove that the DNA evidence was fake.

There are four aspects of the nature of this fake trump card that can be touched upon in this brief article.

Firstly, it appears that the Samui court was misled about the true status of accreditation of the police laboratory. In the judgment (see Thai page 38 in this translated version: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2706254/FINAL-KOH-TAO-JUDGEMENT-English.pdf ) it states that the defendants’ witness, Dr Worawee Wiyawuth testified that his laboratory and the police laboratory are both accredited under ISO 17025. That statement was made in the present tense. That statement makes no reference as to whether the police laboratory was accredited for the scope of the relevant testing at the time the testing was conducted.

I have made extensive efforts since January 2016 to get some definitive answers regarding that DNA evidence and the accreditation of the police laboratory. The “Accreditation Body” that gave accreditation to the police laboratory is known as the “Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards” (“BLQS”). On 13 January 2016 I wrote to its Director, Khun Suthon Vongsheree but only received a reply some 132 days later after Mr Michael Fraser, Secretary of the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (“APLAC”) intervened on my behalf. (BLQS is one of three Thai Accreditation Bodies with Mutual Recognition Arrangements with APLAC.)

In response to my emails, I have been advised by Khun Suthon in writing that the police laboratory did not get the relevant accreditation until 29 January 2015 or 4 months after the testing in the Koh Tao case. As recently as 21 November 2016 Mr Fraser of APLAC has confirmed in writing that this is the case: “…because the test facility was not accredited for the tests conducted at the time of testing the specimens by BLQS, …. APLAC has no further role in this matter.”

So, according to both BLQS and APLAC the police laboratory lacked the ISO 17025 accreditation to perform the DNA tests at the relevant time. If that is true then it would certainly appear that the court was misled even if the witness did not expressly lie but merely answered the questions put to him. However, if the BLQS advice is correct then the police and prosecutor must have known this and should certainly not have said or done anything to mislead the court.

It seems from the judgment that an important reason the court accepted the police DNA evidence is that the court was under the apparently false belief that the Thai police laboratory had internationally recognized accreditation. Had the court not been misled then it would have been in a better position to reject the police DNA evidence.

Naturally the standard of the testing in this case is more important than the issue of whether or not the police laboratory had the appropriate accreditation. However, it seems clear that in accepting (apparently incorrectly) that the appropriate accreditation was in place the court was led to believe that the testing was of a high standard when it was not.

If the BLQS advice is correct, then it would be relevant to the appeal process in the Koh Tao case and possibly to the grounds of seeking a retrial.

Secondly, Dr Worawee is reported in the same paragraph of the judgement (at Thai page 38) as saying that both his laboratory and the police laboratory operate in keeping with international standards.

One trial observer told me that this is not precisely what Dr Worawee said. The observer said that when questioned Dr Worawee testified that he did not know whether the police laboratory operated in keeping with international standards in the Koh Tao case but that generally it did operate in keeping with international standards. It is a vital distinction. Unfortunately, the trial observer who told me this is the former barrister, Robert Holmes and one is obliged to discount the accuracy of his statements in view of his history of dishonesty and multiple convictions for fraud in Queensland. However, there might more reliable trial observers who do recall what Dr Worawee said in court.

Thirdly, Jane Taupin who is the Australian DNA expert who flew to Koh Samui at Andy Hall’s invitation, immediately noted when she saw the DNA table that it did not have a stamp or endorsement to indicate that the police laboratory was accredited by an Accreditation Body such as BLQS. Ms Taupin has told me that she has never attended a trial anywhere in the world where a prosecutor attempted to have such an “unendorsed report” entered into evidence.

I have discussed the significance of this unendorsed report with Ms Jennifer Evans who is the Secretary of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (“ILAC”) and Quality Manager for APLAC. Ms Evans advised that such an unendorsed report might have been produced by a laboratory that lacked accreditation or by an accredited laboratory, which might or might not have produced the unendorsed report under the auspices of the ISO 17025 accreditation.

Nevertheless, if the police and prosecutor had been serious about securing a sound conviction and had the police laboratory held the appropriate accreditation at the material time then one would expect that they would cover all their bases by tendering only endorsed reports.

Fourthly, in the same paragraph of the judgment (at Thai page 38) the court states: “..the testing is deemed credible and trustworthy, despite the fact that the plaintiff’s examination results did not present a chain of custody document ..” With the utmost respect to the court, the testing is worthless unless the police can demonstrate a chain of custody. Without a chain of custody no independent examiner can know where the samples came from. It also demonstrates that the testing was not performed under the auspices of ISO 17025. The court’s statement is akin to saying that a car without an engine and wheels is still a reliable car that can be driven without assistance. The engine and wheels are essential for the car as is the chain of custody in the Koh Tao case.

The court went on to state that: “It does not contribute to inaccurate or incorrect results ..” With the utmost respect to the court, without a chain of custody one has a situation where samples can easily be substituted or mixed up whether deliberately or by accident.

Source: Samu Times, Ian Yarwood, March 1, 2017. Mr. Yarwood is a barrister and a solicitor in Perth, Australia.

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Waves of executions are part of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's hard line on drug convicts. Australians best remember those of Bali Nine leaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, shot by firing squad in 2015 despite all efforts to save them. With more than 200 people on death row, why do anti-death penalty activists now see a ray of hope?
IN A SMALL Christian prayer room at Cilacap jail, on central Java’s south coast, a death-row prisoner talks diffidently about her wedding dress.
The Indonesian migrant worker and convicted drug dealer was once married to an abusive husband but separated long ago after he shunted her off to work in Taiwan.
Merri Utami had planned to wear her new white dress, not to second nuptials, but to her execution by firing squad last year.
She had been preparing to meet Jesus.
According to Indonesian protocol, she would be tied to a stake in a remote jungle clearing on Nusakambangan penal island off the port town of Cilacap, blindfolded and shot dead in t…

WEST PALM BEACH -- In a ruling that could prevent as many as 100 condemned inmates from seeking life sentences, the Florida Supreme Court this week rejected arguments that constitutional flaws with the state’s death penalty should benefit all 362 inmates on death row.
The much anticipated ruling strikes a blow to efforts to block the scheduled Aug. 24 execution of Mark James Asay for the 1987 shooting deaths of two Jacksonville men. It also will make it more difficult for all but one of seven men on death row for decades-old Palm Beach County murders to win life sentences as a result of the legal turmoil roiling the state’s death penalty.
While acknowledging that Asay and others may have other grounds to appeal their death sentences, the ruling is both far-reaching and troubling, said Robert Dunham, a lawyer and executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.
“Now what you have is a situation in which for about 200 cases there may be costly resentencings …

The terrorist group known as ISIS has released pictures of a man being thrown off a roof in Syria.
Thousands of LGBT people have been displaced in Iraq and Syria, as the terrorist group known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) continues to actively target and execute gay men.
This week, the group’s propaganda agency released three pictures of a man being executed for suspected homosexuality.
The pictures were identified as being taken in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, though differing reports identify the location as Damascus.
The first photo shows the man being dangled from the top of a high building by three assailants.
The second pictures shows the man after he has been pushed off the ledge, plunging to his death.
In the third picture, his bloodied body is shown on the ground, as the crowd jeers and pelts him with stones.
Other pictures released by the propaganda agency show the enforcement of horrific brutal practices, including amputating the arm of a thief. Pictures also…

France condemns the execution in Iran, on August 10, of Alireza Tajiki, a minor at the time of the events and at the time of his sentencing, and expresses its concerns about reports of the imminent execution of Mehdi Bohlouli, also sentenced to death when he was a juvenile.
This execution is contrary to the international commitments that Iran itself has signed on to, particularly the international Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It is also a step backward with respect to the positive developments we have seen on human rights in Iran, most notably the Iranian Parliament’s adoption of a law on August 13 limiting the scope of the death penalty.
France reiterates its unwavering opposition to the death penalty throughout the world and in all circumstances.
It encourages Iran to continue its efforts and to establish a moratorium with a view to its abolition. Source: France Diplomatie, August 16, 2017

Rejecting international norms, Iran speeds the execution of minor offenders
On Tue…

One of the prisoners was 17 when he committed the alleged "crime"
Seven prisoners sentenced to death in Gohar Dasht (Rajaieh Shahr) Prison in Karaj, have been transferred to solitary confinement. These victims are faced with an imminent death threat.
Mehdi Bohlouli, who is now on the verge of execution after serving 15 years of imprisonment, was only 17 when arrested and this is the fourth time he has been transferred to solitary confinement for implementation of the death sentence.
Taking prisoners to the gallows to witness the shocking scene of the execution of other prisoners is a common practice of torture in the prisons of Iranian regime.
Transferring the young prisoner, Mehdi Bohlouli for execution is taking place while the execution of Alireza Tajiki, a young prisoner who was 15 years old at the time of his arrest, sparked a wave of hatred inside and outside of Iran, and international human rights organizations called it shameful and shocking. Alireza Tajiki was hang…

Jakarta: Bali nine drug mule Renae Lawrence is expected to have her jail sentence cut by six months which would see her complete her prison term by the middle of next year.
However it is likely she will serve an additional six months behind bars rather than pay the one billion rupiah ($100,000) fine that accompanied her jail sentence.
The prison governor of Bangli jail, Diding Alfian, told Fairfax Media that Lawrence had been recommended for a six-month remission as part of Indonesian Independence Day celebrations on August 17.
Meanwhile Bali authorities said Australian fugitive Shaun Edward Davidson could have been a free man on Thursday if he had been granted a sentence remission.
Davidson escaped from Kerobokan jail via a waste tunnel in late June with just 10 weeks left of his 12-month jail sentence for using another man's passport.
"He was in for forged documents, we would have recommended him for remission if he behaved," Bali Corrections Chief Surung Pasaribu tol…

A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Shirvan Prison on murder charges. 2 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Zanjan Central Prison on drug related charges.
According to close sources, the executions in Zanjan were carried out on the morning of Tuesday August 8, and the prisoners have been identified as: Hamza Rahimpour and Abbas Sooghi.
"Hamza Rahimpour was arrested and sentenced to death in 2014 on the charge of producing and selling 6 kilograms of crystal meth. Abbas Sooghi was arrested and sentenced to death in 2015 on the charge of four kilograms of opium and heroin," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights.
Iran Human Rights had reported on the imminent execution of these prisoners and urged the international community to take action.
An official Iranian source announced on Monday August 7 the execution of a prisoner at Zanjan Central Prison on murder charges. This brings the total number of prisoners who were reported as executed in Zanjan Prison last week to three. …

NCRI - Two young 20- and 19-year-old prisoners from Afghanistan were sentenced to death in central prison of Zahedan, Southeast Iran, on the charges of armed robbery from a financial institution.
According to reports, they were subjected to intense physical and mental torture in the prison, in order to confess to what they were asked to in front of the television camera.
Hamza Noorzehi, 20, and Amir Noorzehi, 19, were arrested in Zahedan on 28 July 2014.
According to reports, Hamza Noorzehi was working in a quilt shop and Amir Noorzehi was working on the street repairing and waxing shoes when Fereshtegan (Angels) Financial Institute, also known as Arman Institution, was targeted by an armed robbery.
According to their relatives, they had nothing to do with the armed robbery, and they were only working on their daily routine work.
At the time of arrest, Hamza Noorzehi, was 17 and Amir Noorzehi was 16 years old.
The Angels aka Arman financial institution was based in the city of Zahed…

The amendment will apply retroactively, thus commuting the sentences for many of the 5,300 inmates currently on death row for drug trafficking. Under the new bill, the punishment for those already convicted and given the death penalty or life in prison, other than those meeting the new execution requirements, will be commuted to up to 30 years in jail and a cash fine.
Iran’s parliament passed a long-awaited amendment to its drug trafficking laws on Sunday, raising the thresholds that can trigger capital punishment and potentially saving the lives of many on death row.
The bill must still be approved by the conservative-dominated Guardian Council but gained parliamentary approval after months of debate, according to parliament’s website and the ISNA news agency.
According to rights group Amnesty International, Iran was one of the top five executioners in the world in 2016, with most of its hangings related to illicit drugs. The watchdog noted sharp drops in the number of executions in …

I oppose the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally, regardless of the method chosen to kill the condemned prisoner.
The death penalty is inherently cruel and degrading, an archaic punishment that is incompatible with human dignity.
To end the death penalty is to abandon a destructive diversionary and divisive public policy that is not consistent with widely held values.
The death penalty not only runs the risk of irrevocable error, it is also costly to the public purse as well as in social and psychological terms.
The death penalty has not been proved to have a special deterrent effect.
It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way on grounds of race and class.
It denies the possibility of reconciliation and rehabilitation.
It prolongs the suffering of the murder victim's family and extends that suffering to the loved ones of the condemned prisoner.
It diverts resources that could be better used to work against violent crime and assist those affected by it.
Death Penalty News is a privately owned, non-profit blog. It is based in Paris, France.
Your donations to Death Penalty News DO make a difference.